Flapper valve assembly



United States Patent l||l 3,55

[72] Inventor Roy Glenn Vawter [56] References Cited Grand Valle-Y, UNITED STATES PATENTS Eff; 333%: 1,104,806 7/1914 Kahn l37/527.6X [45] Patented Dec. 29,1970 1,8 I 3,273 7/1931 Bovey 251/303X [73] Assignee The Oil Shale Corporation Primary Examiner-M. Cary Nelson New York, N.Y. Assistant Examiner-R. B. Rothman a corporation of Nevada Attornev-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond [54] FLAPPER VALVE ASSEMBLY 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 251/298 [5 1] Int. Cl. Fl6k 1/18 [50] Field ofSearch 251/298, 303, 87, 299; 137/5278, 513.3, 513.5, 527.4, 527.6; 3 l4/(lnquired) BALL ELEVATOR BALL HEATER FLAPPER VALVE ABSTRACT: An antijamming flapper valve assembly characterized by the flap plate thereof being in :spaced relationship to the upper portion of its seat and in sealable engagement with the lower portion of its seat. The antijamming flapper valve assembly is further characterized by its seat being beveled and in spaced relationship to the housing therefor.

VAPOR LINE BALL LINE lb (cow) PATENTEDnmzemm 3550.904

sum 1 OF 2 FIG.

BALL HEATER FLUE GAS OUT RAW SHALE I4 BALL L E I VAPOR LINE BALL ELEVATOR BALL LINE l6 (COLD) FLAPPER VALVE INVLIN'I'UR. ROY G. VAWTE R BY w re his ATTORNEYS I N VISNI DR. 0 ROY G. VAWTER his ATTORNEYS FLAPPER VALVE ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to a valve assembly and more particularly to an antijamming flapper valve assembly.

The antijamming flapper valve assembly of the invention is characterized by the flap plate thereof being in spaced relationship to the upper portion of its seat and in sealable engagement with the lower portion of its seat. The antijamming flapper valve assembly of the invention is further characterized by the seat being beveled at least at the lower portion thereof and being in spaced relationship to its housing.

The spatial relationship of the flap plate to the upper portion of its seat and the spatial relationship of the flap seat to the housingtherefor in conjunction with the beveling of the seat render the flapper valve assembly antijamming by permitting the balls or pebbles conveyedtherethrough to bypass the flap plate at the upper portion of its seat rather than become wedged between the upper end of the flap plate and the upper portion of its seat to thereby prevent closing of the flap plate. The beveled portion ofthe flap seat in conjunction with the spatial relationship thereof to its housing also renders the flapper valve assembly antijamming by permitting the balls or pebbles conveyed therethrough to be forced outwardly into the spaced portion between the lower portion of the valve seat and the lower portion of the housing.

The antijamming flapper valve assembly finds particular use in circuitry designed for the recovery of oil from oil shale, tar sands, or the like. i

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of the entireball-circuit for use in retorting oil shale, tar sands, and the like:

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the flapper valve assembly; and

FIG. 3 is an elevational cross-sectional view of the flapper valve assembly taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2. 1

Referring now to FIG. 1, hot heat exchange bodies, such as hot ceramic balls generally having a diameter of approximately 0.5 inch, are withdrawn from the ball heater and fed to the retort 11 via line 12 through flapper valve 13 wherein the balls contact raw oil shale which is fed to the retort 11 from source 14 via line 15. Upon completion of the pyrolysis of the oil shale in the retort 11 the balls are moved from retort 11 via heater 10. The two flapper valves 13 and 18 serve as flow control valves to maintain a level of balls in the ball heater 10 and the cold ball accumulator l9. Flapper valve 13 is operated pneumatically from a control panel (not shown) to thereby set the rate at which balls are fed to the retort 11. Flapper valve 18 is operated pneumatically by a level control device (not shown) located in the cold ball accumulator 19 so as to provide a seal with the aid of steam) at the retort 11 and thereby prevent the escape of oil vapors through line 16. Both flapper valves 13 and 18 are designed in accordance with the invention as shown by FIGS. 2 and 3 so that they may be positively closed when required. For example, if flapper valve 13 were to become jammed open by a ball being wedged between the flap plate 20 and the upper portion 21 of the feed pipe seat 30, an

also be possible for oil vapor to escape through line 16 into elevator 17, thereby presenting a serious fire hazard in the elevator 17.

, Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the antijamming flapper valve assembly 13 or 18 of the invention comprises an inclined housing 22 having a flattened top 23 and a curved bottom portion 24. Extending axially into the inlet 25 of the housing 22 is a cylindrical conduit or feed pipe 26 fitted with a flange 27 for attachment or coupling of the assembly into ball feed line 12 or 16. The lower open end 28 of the housing 22 is also fitted with a flange 29 for mounting of the valve assembly into ball feed line 12 or 16. The lower open end 28 of the housing 22 is also fitted with a flange 29 for mounting of the valve assembly into ball feed line 12 or 16.

The cylindrical conduit 26 extends into the housing 22 and has its mouth or flap seat 30 oblique to the axis of the conduit 26 so that the mouth or flap seat 31) is vertically disposed within the housing 22. Mounted transversely adjacent the flap seat 30 is flap plate 20, reinforced by braces 31, which is pivotally mounted upon a rod 32 which extends through the housing 22 and is supported therefrom by arms 33 and 34. The rod 32 is operatively rotated by pneumatic means (not shown) connected to handle 35 which is keyed to the rod 32.

The flap plate 20 is in spaced relationship (the spacing is equal to the diameter of the balls indicated in phantom) indicated by 36 from the upper portion 21 of the flap seat 30. However, flap plate 20, when in closed position, is in sealable engagement with the lower portion 37 of the flap seat 30.

The lower portion 37 of the flap seat 30 has a bevel 38 extending therearound or extending entirely around the flap seat 30. The cylindrical conduit 26 is spaced from the flattened top 23 of the housing 22 and from the bottom portion 24 of the housing 22 and so is the flap plate 20 as shown at 39 and 40. The spacings 39 and 40 are at least equal to the diameter of the balls.

In operation, the flap plate 20 is pivoted to the right in FIG. 2 by rotation of rod 32 so as to permit passage of the balls through the mouth 30 of conduit 26 and out of housing 22 at outlet 28.

When the flap plate 20 is swung to the closed position (shown in FIG. 2), the balls do not jam the flap plate 20 and thereby keep it in an extended open position. This is achieved by the provision of the spacing 36 at the upper portion 21 between the flap seat 30 and the flap plate 20, which spacing 36is equal to the diameter of the balls being retained by the flap plate 20 so that balls do not become wedged between the upper portion 21 of the flap seat 30 and the flap plate 20 and thereby keep the flap plate20 in an extended open position. Moreover, the bevel 38, which extends at least around the lower portion 37 of the flap seat 30, in conjunction with the spacing 40 between the lower portion 24 of the housing 22 and the lower portion of the conduit 26, permits the forcing of any balls at the lower portion of the conduit 26 into the spacing 40 and thereby permits proper seating of the flap plate 20 against the flap seat 30.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and changes may be made in the apparatus of the invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the essence thereof and, accordingly, the apparatus is to be limited only within the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. An antijamming flapper valve assembly comprising: a housing having inlet and outlet ends; a conduit extending into the housing through the inlet end thereof and having an oblique mouth within the housing forming a flap plate seat; and a flap plate pivotally mounted acrossthe mouth of the conduit and in spaced relationship to the upper portion thereof equal to the diameter of the balls fed through the conduit and in sealable engagement with the lower portion thereof.

2. The antijamming flapper valve'assembly as defined by claim 1 wherein the mouth is beveled at least at the lower portion thereof and said conduit is in spaced relationship to said housing at least equal to the diameter of the balls fed through the conduit. 7

3. The antijamming flapper valve assembly as defined by claim 1 wherein the flap plate is spaced about 0.5 inch from the upper portion of the mouth of the conduit.

4. The antijamming flapper valve assembly as defined by claim 2 wherein the conduit is spaced at least about 0.5 inch from the housing. 

